By Amanda Ensinger
Staff Writer
From a summer reading program to live entertainment at the farmer’s markets, the Prairie Township Community Center is bringing summer in with a bang.
“We will be kicking off the summer with a summer reading program,” said James Gant, director of the community center. “The program is free to participate in and will consists of three readings with activities to accompany each reading.”
The program takes place July 7 at the Community Center, 5955 West Broad St. and on Aug. 14 at Prairie Township Fire Station 241, 123 Inah Ave. Each event will begin at 10 a.m.
“One of the books we will be reading is about wildflowers, so we will have the reading in the wildflower prairie on our property,” Gant said. “Another reading is about firefighters, so we are partnering with the fire station to have the reading there.”
Another book the children will be reading is about embracing being unique, so the kids participating will be painting rocks to highlight their individuality. According the Gant, the rocks will then go in a garden on the community center property.
“This book is really great because it teaches children its OK to be unique and the world needs unique people in it,” Gant said.
Gant added that the community center wanted to start the reading program to encourage reading among their youngest residents.
“We always try to look for ways to do events that have a lasting impact on the community,” he said. “Reading is so important, so we felt it was important to have events that encourage reading.”
Besides kicking off the reading program this summer, the community center also is hosting several events at the farmer’s market.
On Monday, July 10 the farmer’s market will be hosting Ohio Health live cooking demonstrations, an animal farm event called Bring the Farm to You from 4:30-6:30 p.m., live music from Grassahol and food for sale from Schmidt’s Sausage Food Truck. On Monday, August 14 the farmer’s market also will have Ohio Health live cooking demonstrations, as well as Matt the Balloon Guy.
“We will be having these special events at the farmer’s market the second Monday of every month,” Gant said. “The purpose is to get more people to the farmer’s market and show them everything the market has to offer.”
The farmer’s market this year also is now part of the Veggie SNAP Program. According to Gant, this means that people who are receiving assistance can use those dollars to purchase their fresh produce at the market. This is mutually beneficial because program recipients get access to fresh local food and the market can reach even further individuals.
The vendors participating in the farmer’s market this year are Beautifully Me, Bob’s Foods/Lehnert Meats LLC, Darby Creek Beef, Hinton Apiaries (honey), Hoffman’s Farm Market, Kuhlwein’s Farm Market, Miler’s Olde Fashioned Ice Cream (July 10 and August 14), Paul Hennessy (sweet corn in July) and Too Good Eats.
For more information on events at the Prairie Township Community Center, visit www.prairietownship.org/131/Community-Center.
